This invention relates to a container, preferably for a particulate product, which container is physically robust, and at the same time, both environmentally and ergonomically friendly. The container of this invention is particularly useful as a non-reservoir toner bottle for copying/printing machines. However, the container of this invention is not limited, nor intended to be limited to, containers for particulate product or toner bottles because it has numerous applications which will be obvious to one skilled in the art once apprised of its environmental and ergonomic advantages. For sake of clarity and brevity, this invention will be discussed in detail hereinafter primarily in relation to a container that carries solid particular toner product that is ultimately to be dispensed into the toner reservoir of a copying/printing machine.
Heretofore, rectangular toner bottles have carried a plurality of spaced-apart vertical ribs to assist an operator when inserting the bottle into a copier/printer. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,982,771 issued Jan. 8, 1991, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,062,385 issued Dec. 13, 1977.
A curvilinear toner bottle is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,729,794 issued Mar. 17, 1998, which appears to disclose partial spaced-apart ribs transverse to the longitudinal axis of the bottle, which ribs extends over substantially less than half of the full periphery of the bottle. The use of partial ribs can result in weak spots in the container unless more material is used in making the container.
By this invention, a physically robust container is provided by use of a combination of full periphery ribbing and facets carried on such ribbing as disclosed in detail hereinafter.
Because of such combination of full ribbing and facets thereon, not only does the container of this invention achieve improved physical strength, but does so while using less material to make the container, which is environmentally desirable. Further the container of this invention is readily adapted to be made from recyclable material. The container is also readily formed by using blow molding techniques, which have low process waste. Therefore, this invention is environmentally friendly from a number of points of view.
The ribbing/facet combination of this invention, besides increasing container strength by using less container-forming material, provides ergonomically friendly gripping surfaces for an operator, no matter which way an operator initially grasps or ultimately manipulates the container.